Improvement in ballot-boxes



M. D. WILLIAMS.

Ballot-Box.

No. 200,495. Patented Feb. 19,1878.

n env/11111110011111110111 fa m i W7 MPETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER, wAsmNGTON, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MORRIS D. VILLIAMS, OF SYRAOUSE, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN BALLOT-BOXES.

Specification forming part of LettersPatent No. 200,495, dated February 19, 1878; application filed l July 26, 1877. i

To all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MORRIS D. WILLIAMS, of Syracuse, Onondaga county and State of New York, have invented new and useful Imy provements in Ballot-Boxes, of which the following is a specification:

My invention consists, essentially, of a wheel and a band, which are arranged in suitable relation to the opening in the box through which the ballots are deposited, and are caused to shift as each ballot is deposited, so as to receive and retain them separately, the wheel being made with a series of receptacles or spaces for so receiving them, and the band being to bind the ballots separately from each other on the wheel.

It also consists of mechanism for shifting the wheel for successively presenting the spaces or receptacles to the opening', with which a door that is made to close the opening after each ballot is deposited is so connected that the door is opened simultaneously with the shifting of the wheel, and by the same lever that is employed for that purpose.

It also consists of a register so combined with the ballot-wheel that the ballots are recorded thereon in consecutive order as they are deposited, and there is abell so connected with the ballot-wheel that a signal is sounded each time the box is opened for reception of a ballot.

The ballots are discharged from the wheel, for canvassing, into a receptacle below by a spool or drum, which is turned with a key orcrank, to wind the band back onto it from the ballot-wheel, the spool being to deliver the band to the ballot-wheel in the progress of the voting.

In the drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal sectional elevation of my improved ballot-box. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section.

-A is the case of the box, in one side of which is an opening, B, through which the ballots O are deposited on the face of the drum or wheel D, between the arms E, projecting from it at suitable intervals to form spaces for reception ofthe ballots between them. F is the band for binding the ballots on the wheel. G is the spool,fromwhich the band winds on the wheel H is a guide for the band; I, a tensionbrake; J, a ratchet attached to the wheel D;

K, pawl for working the ratchet; L, lever for working the pawl; M, retracting-spring N, holding-pawl; O, door for closing the opening B; P, bell-crank, and Q link connecting it to the pawl-lever; R, the register 5 S, the signalbell, and T the bell-hammer.

The register is the well-known kind composed of a series of disks numbered on the face, and the rst one is attached to the wheel D, so as to turn with it, and is numbered to correspond with the spaces between the arms of the wheel for reception of the ballots. rlhe top ofthe box will beof glass, to enable the ballots to be seen distinctly.

The operation is as follows: When a ballot is offered, the inspectorreceivin g it bears down upon the handle of the pawl-lever L, which moves the depositing-wheel one section, also the register, and at the same time opens the door to admit the ballot, and also rings the bell. The ballot is then passed in to its place on the wheel; the lever is then released, and the spring closes the door and shifts the pawl back ready for the next operation.

Vhen the ballots are to be counted the door at the left hand of the box is opened, the pawls K and N are lifted out of the ratchetwheel by the cord W, and the ballots are discharged into the drawer X by applying a key to the shaft Y of the spool G and winding the band back off from the ballot-wheel onto the spool G.

The recordi 11g-instrument, in connection with the wheel on which the ballots are deposited, is a great public convenience, and, besides, it renders it impossible for any ballots to be put in the box either before the poll is opened or after it is closed without detection 5 also, as each ballot is kept separate from all of the rest, it is impossible for any one to put in more than one ballot without certain detection. The separate lodgment of the ballots also renders it impossible for any ballot to get so entangled with another as to make it appear as though two or more were cast by one voter. Each ballot being recorded renders it unnec essary to count or compare the ballots with the names on the poll-list.

Any given ballot can be identied at any time previous to its being discharged from the wheel by noting its number on the register when deposited, and also When the register is reversed when discharging the ballots, so that repeating and other modes of fraudulent voting can be successfully prevented.

The paWls K and N are lifted out of the ratchet-Wheel by a cord, W, when the votes are to be discharged from the Wheel D.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

band in connection with said Wheel, substantially as described.

3. The combination of areceiving-wheel having a series of spaces for the ballots, the band for confining the ballots thereon, and the register for recording the ballots, substantially as described.

4. The combination, in a ballot-box, of the self-closing door to the opening through which the ballots are deposited, the Wheel with separate spaces for the ballots, the band for. retaining the ballots on the Wheel, and the bell for signaling the opening of the box, substantially as described.

MORRIS D. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

E. M. BUTLIN, I. It. ALvoRD. 

